it's great. i'm leeching off of someone else's wireless internet service. brought my laptop home and opened my internet browser just to see if maybe i might be able to feed off of someone else's service. =) affirmative.

last week one of my students who was writing a letter asked me: "ms.lee, how do spell your first name?" and responded in an irked sort of manner "it's M-S. you know how to spell it, it's up there.."
"will the mail carrier know if i just write ms. lee?"
"yes" (we have mailboxes for everyone in the classroom, and one of the student's job is mail carrier)
"ms. lee, what's your address?"
"just put 99th street, room 25"
"will the mail carrier know where to send it?"
"YES"
"how do u spell 99th street?"
"here." (i write it down for him)
******
the next morning.
"ms. lee!!! did u get my letter?!!"
.... "what letter?"
"the letter that i sent you!"
... O_O i slap my hand over my mouth... "where did u put it?"
"where my grandma always puts it"
.... O_O "brandon! i'm not gonna get it!"....
******
next week.
i check my teacher's mailbox... i see a big envelope with a child's writing on the front: Ms. Lee, 99th Street School, Room 25, LA, CA 90002. He mailed it and i got it!!! how cute!! his grandma helped him out. inside was a get-well card, cuz he knew i had been sick. and inside the card was his folded letter. it read: Dear Ms. Lee, How are you? I'm OK. Your friend, Brandon. =)

happy day of pilgrims displacing native americans and thanking them for helping them survive.

teehee! =) my classroom is too APSA for my own good. today i had james fernandez sub for my class. how fun!!! =) any other apsa folks who are teachers? come sub for me when you're off track and whatnot. i think he had fun with my 1st graders. i peeked my head into my classroom here and there, and he was doin good. =) aww~

i love my All-Stars. =) they really do make me happy. and i feel like i'm doin alright with them. but, i can always be better. i've brainwashed them in a number of ways already, i can see it, and so can visitors. they check each other by saying things like, "practice makes perfect!" "you gotta do your best!" "don't throw that away! recycle it!" "don't laugh at him, how would you feel?" and their reading is coming along so well... i don't remember reading in first grade like some of them are reading now. they blow me away. and one girl who couldn't read at all... she can read now. i almost cried the day i heard her sounding out words. =) things are comin along. i think about them so much... i really do love them goobers.

the things i get for moving to LA. sometime between last nite and this morning, my car got broken into. i walked out to my car, which was parked RIGHT in front of my apartment, and i noticed that my hood was slightly popped open. at first i thought the car parked in front of me had backed up into me and bent my hood. but upon close inspection, i noticed that it had been popped open as if the hood release was pulled. my alarm didn't work, so then i open my door with my key. i noticed my window had been slightly popped out. i looked inside... my stereo was gone. my car didn't start. i freaked out cuz i had to teach my freakin class. i looked to see if anythign else was gone, but everything else was fine. so i went back to my apartment, woke up jimmy to ask if i can move my car into the parking port, and woke up mayrin to ask if she could drop me off at work (since she teaches just several blocks from me). so we pushed my dead car. then jimmy asks to check under my hood, after which he discovered that my battery had just been disconnected. got it back on, my car started, my rolled down my window all the way and back up again, so it realigned and fixed itself. and my car was fine. so i went to work... bummed and bitter. and that is my story. =(

awww.. janet's filling out her first report cards.... aww~ and lemme tell ya, they're NO fun at all.... =(

DOOD. watts and compton is FLOODED. the thunderstorm was unexpected and ruthless. i'm really lucky that i left earlier than usual today. had i stayed til my usual time, 7:30-8:30 ish, i might quite possibly have found myself stranded in my car with water up to my windows. the power at my school all went out around 4:15. when i left the parking lot had water up to about 2 or 3 inches. i did my best to tip toe through it. raindrops were HUGE and relentless, and earlier there had apparently been some hail too. when i was driving, water was slicing up all around me even though i was going only 5-10 mph. the dip right before the fwy onramp was so deep full of water that i thought i might have suffered some engine damage. the further i got away from the area, the less it rained. halfway down the 10 fwy as i neared my apt, the fwy was completely dry. so weird!! when i watched the news later i found out that the thunderstorm just targeted a small area near the 110 and 105. the area is f***ed up. emergency vehicles had countless rescues to attend to. i wonder what tomorrow will be like... i hope my students' families are alright.

hey peeps~ got myself a new cell #, so i've rid myself of my SD area code =( alas, it was fun saying "858" and getting confused reactions from los angelenos. but yes, if i've not yet let you know, you should expect an IM, email, or call from me. my new phone is too spiffy for my own good. it's tiny and it feels like a toy. it's the newest, smallest samsung (go korea!). what a difference from my 5 year-old big bulky nokia 6190. ok i'm done blogging about my phone.

our Harvest Festival carnival seemed to be quite a success at our school! spent all day at 99th Street Elementary running the Fish Toss game and giving away little fish to kids. i wonder how long they'll live... they're feeder fish, so they're supposed to not live very long lives. but still. so sad!! =( most of the feeder fish i won as a child died. only one lived for about 5 years or so. anyhow, i was freezing that day. the weather got so cold so quick! and my fish toss game partner and i didn't have time for a break at all. towards the end of the day i got reassigned to the face painting booth. i'm a purty gosh-darned good face painter, if i do say so myself. i think i'll do that next year. it's fun, but nerve-wracking cuz no one wants to mess up a kid's face. i forget how fun it is to watch kids have fun. =)

this weekend's gonna be MADNESS~!!! my colleagues and i are leaving for the palm springs math conference on thursday afternoon. that goes on from friday through saturday. when i come back on saturday night, i need to lesson plan and sleep. sunday i gotta get my drums and borrow my parents' minivan to drive down to san diego for APSA's 10th high school conference! how special. =) i know richard and all the other folks are putting heart and sweat into making it a bomb conference. thanx for remembering me and inviting me back. =) after doing workshops and performing, i'll head back up to LA and oh my gosh... get ready for the next day. at least that following tuesday is a holiday. =p gotta be on the ball this week. ooh, and i have a very cool substitute for my class on friday. my roomie!! jimmy, have fun with my All-Stars! =)